Colts' Anthony Castonzo Confident His Best Is Yet To Come

Opting to return instead of retire and receiving a two-year, $33-million deal, the 10th-year offensive left tackle spoke of how he expects to play better in 2020.

INDIANAPOLIS — In deference to an old NFL adage that the body tells a player when it’s time to retire, Indianapolis Colts offensive left tackle Anthony Castonzo listened to his when deciding to return.

“Yeah, after having a healthy season I kind of looked back on the season and I said, ‘Do I think that that is the best that I’m going to be able to play?’” Castonzo said on a Tuesday conference call. “Having been 100 percent – well, not 100 percent, no one is ever 100 percent – but having been healthy and got through the season and I’m kind of looking at it like, ‘Do I think I can play better than that or is that the best I think I can play?’ If I had come away from that saying, ‘I think that’s the best that I can play and it’s downhill from here,’ then I probably would have decided to retire.

“But after doing some offseason training, kind of getting going and thinking about things I think that I’ve got a lot of better football and a lot more in me. So I decided that I want to keep playing. I mean I love the Colts and I love football. So it ended up being a definite decision with absolutely nothing kind of swaying me in the other direction.”

When he let the Colts know of his decision to return for his 10th season, head coach Frank Reich said he thought he could hear general manager Chris Ballard’s reaction.

“I think I heard Chris screaming and yelling from the office next door,” Reich said during February’s NFL Scouting Combine. “That was such good news for us.”

Castonzo is that important. The Colts had the only offensive line with all five starters making every start in 2019. Castonzo is usually assigned the NFL’s elite pass rushers, and he seldom gets help from other blockers.

For the first time since he was selected 22nd overall in the 2011 NFL draft, Castonzo earned a Pro Bowl alternate honor last season. He was as surprised as anyone. He had grown accustomed to being overlooked for such honors, although his value to the Colts was never in question. They wanted him back.

A two-year, $33 million contract that makes Castonzo the league’s highest-paid player at his position is testament to what the Colts think of him.

“I wanted to commit to the Colts and that is why the two-year (deal) kind of made sense because, at the end of the day after this year, I was going to be a free agent again, I would end up signing with the Colts again,” he said. “So it’s just kind of like why do it year-to-year when you can just do a two-year and kind of take it from there?”

Castonzo’s contract includes $17 million guaranteed and is essentially front loaded from a salary cap perspective. He’ll count $17 million toward the cap in 2020, and if his situation changes and he doesn’t play the second season, the Colts can cut him without a dead cap hit.

“I play football because I want to dominate the people that I play against,” Castonzo said. “I mean that is where the joy in playing football comes from for me. Looking at it and if I say I think I have the ability to do that – that’s what I love about the game and that’s why I want to continue playing.”

It’s been an expensive week for the Colts, who sent their 2020 first-round draft pick to San Francisco to acquire defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and gave him a four-year, $84-million extension. Quarterback Philip Rivers agreed to a reported one-year, $25-million deal that the team has yet to announce. They had the money to spend, starting free agency with $86.1 million, the second-most salary cap space. That number is now about $22.3 million, counting the Rivers millions.

“Regardless who is playing quarterback back there, the beautiful thing about playing tackle is that it does not change your job at all,” Castonzo said with a chuckle. “So regardless of who is back there, I am going to have to protect him and do my job, and that is what I am focused on. Regardless of what happens at the quarterback position, I would imagine that Chris (Ballard) and Frank (Reich) have a fantastic plan as they always do.”

The Colts finished 7-9 last year and missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. Getting Castonzo back helps Ballard focus on other positions in the draft. Adding Buckner means the Colts are expected to look at wide receiver, edge rusher and cornerback.

Castonzo, who turns 32 in August, confidently reiterated he can play better.

“Yeah, I honestly think I have just kind of scratched the surface,” he said with another chuckle. “I mean I’m figuring out a lot of things about my body, about the game, how to move and how to kind of do things more efficiently – really get more out of my offseason training. People say, ‘Work smarter not harder,’ but when you kind of combine both of them and you are able to work harder and smarter you can kind of do a lot. I’ve become pretty excited about the kind of prospects of getting better and better as I get later on in my career here.”